BMW Performance Front Brake Brackets for E46 M3/CSL/Z4M

[schwank]

Has anyone heard of this conversion kit? I ran into it on another forum, but didnt see anyone who had actually used it....

"This auction is for a pair of custom CNC machined and anodised brake calliper brackets and longer Goodridge braided brake hoses
to allow the fitment of the BMW Performance yellow Brembo 6 pot callipers onto the E46 M3 and equivelant cars using
E46 M3 CSL 345mm brake discs."


http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BMW-Performanc...item20b405c080

[lucid]

These are not BMW parts. He sticks "BMW Performance" in the title, but then states they are custom made. Not clear who made these. Not possible to tell if they are designed properly and if they might fail, etc. CNC machined doesn't mean anything in that regard. But more importantly, if you are going to invest in Brembo calipers, why not buy the Brembo rotors as well, and hence the whole kit?

[Thisisdudewhoru]

Also, from my extensive research on the 1 series forums from when I was thinking about getting a 135, these are the same exact brakes that come on 135i. They've also had horrible problems with the pistons cracking and crumbling as well...I wouldn't get them.

http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showthread.php?t=221203

[JCz04Bimmer]

There's a fix posted at the end of that thread by larryn that calls for the use of StopTech rebuild parts to replace the pistons, seals and boots. Parts are $425 and will give you a much stronger piston that should resist these sort of heat-related issues. If you can find the 1er brakes for cheap and can do this work yourself (it isn't too hard, actually), then this could be a good upgrade.

But, that said, if you plan to track your car and you don't intend to spend the extra money to replace the parts that will fail do not bother. I was at the track event with larryn and worked to get him to a point where he could drive home. It wasn't pretty. The pistons mashed through the backing plate, warped the pad thus scoring the rotor all while the piston seals deteriorated and the pistons began cracking. The central piston literally popped out and barfed out fluid when the pads came out because the seals were toast. Scary.